Archive for April, 2010

17 April 2010
I have in my possession thousands of coins from all corners of the world spanning centuries (well, 19th, 20th & 21st centuries anyway). Now, with the advent of the new Hazzard table at East Wind Games, I get to pull out those coins and use them in the manner for which I started collecting them oh so many years ago.
Cheers.

They’re here! Larry and Denise arrived yesterday evening and have settled themselves into the Mouse Suite. I’m pleased to report that my cleaning and organizing efforts this spring have paid off in spades, for somehow they managed to fit all three of their giant suitcases as well as the hard-sided case for the swords and hats, all into that room … and still they seem to have room to turn around, and I can even access my desk. Woo hoo!

Not wanting a complicated, far-away meal, we all went to No Frills last night, for food, beer and trivia. Larry kicked our butts at the trivia … I think we need a re-match!

Today, was their day to spend entirely with Allyson, so they left early this morning to head to Dallas. I know they intend to shop restaurant supply stores and the Dallas Farmer’s Market, before digging into the project of making a huge fancy dinner for some of Ally’s friends … Only the fact that it’s Friday and we have to be at faire are keeping me from Larry’s Chicken Oscar!

I got all the alterations I’d promised folks done, today … and assembled a few of the embroidered stomacher sets for the booth. Shipments arrived, errands got done, and we headed out to faire early enough to justify a stop at NFG for food on the way. It was that or Whataburger, and we both voted for food with beer!

We got all the way to faire before I realized I’d left my phone charger at home … and my phone was dead. After some crazy machinations, I finally made contact with Allyson who promised to reach her dad and have him bring what I needed to faire tomorrow. Then, I realized I’d also forgotten a bag containing important things like my toothbrush! Grrrr. Once again, Larry and Denise to the rescue! Good thing we have a back-up plan … that’s not true most weekends, so I’ve simply got to get my act together a little better! I need a checklist!

I snapped this photo of one of the blooming irises in front of our house on the way out to faire tonight. I noticed one bloom yesterday for the first time (I hadn’t left the house during daylight in a long time!) and today there are half a dozen! I vowed then, to take a photo … so here it is.

As I made final preparations on the house today, in anticipation of Larry and Denise’s arrival, I moved this lovely vase of flowers and was struck once again, with both their meaning to me and their beauty. So, even though I used the rose as my photo for yesterday, I got the camera and tried to photograph the entire vase full of blooms. Unfortunately, the bouquet is just the right size and shape that I could not for the life of me make it look good in my photo without losing part of it of the edges of my frame. And, while sometimes that works, I didn’t like it today. So, I backed off, instead, and realized that maybe I could capture part of the surroundings and make it interesting. What I have is interesting to me, if not to others—a microcosm of our lives represented in stuff . I’ve done this before with other places in our home, but it’s been a while, so … here goes …

The flowers of course, tell the story that I shared yesterday, of me being honoured by my friend, and our queen at Scarborough Renaissance Festival, Shannon. I lovingly placed those flowers in a hand-blown art glass vase, made by my dear friend Shannon Jane Morgan of Girl Glass—the gaffer I enthusiastically apprentice with every summer at Bristol. It sits on a coaster that’s part of a set of coasters Kyle’s parents brought us from Europe. And that sits on my antique golden oak, draw-leaf table—the first “new (to me)” antique that I bought after moving in with Kyle. Behind that, hanging on the wall, is a lovely oak shelf and the beautiful glass yard that hangs from it. We picked that up at the Colorado Renaissance Faire just days before we were married. The hanging shelf visible on the left came from the Arizona Renaissance Festival—the first faire Kyle and I worked together on the road. It holds a couple of bottles of bubbly, gifted to us at our last Hogmanay party, and the tasting glasses we brought home from our first trip to the Messina Hof Winery. I can see parts of two other beloved antique pieces: on the left, a fabulous little cabinet that houses an antique treadle sewing machine—a gift from George one Dickens weekend from long ago; and a small English sideboard that I picked up for a song a few years ago and which now houses our collection of liqueurs. On top of that piece is a wine rack, and heaven knows we love our wine. That makes me think of our friend Jene, the winemaker at Fredericksburg Winery, who has gifted us with so many of those bottles in that rack. On top of the sewing machine cabinet, and on the hanging shelf, are many of my houseplants, simple pothos ivy mostly, that I manage to keep alive, and that even Kyle has gotten pretty good at remembering to water while I’m away in the summer. And, back over on the sideboard you can plainly see the commemorative glass from the Rahr Brewery created just for their award-winning brew we love so much called Iron Thistle. You can even see, just the corner of a photo frame that holds some favourite photos of mine … a group shot of many of our dearest friends at Dickens, a beautiful shot of my little brother and his daughter (my niece) McKenna, and the one you can actually see of my mama and my grandmother on her 94th birthday.

Such wonderful memories … such rich experiences … such love of friends and family … all represented in one rather average photograph. It’s just a dining room still-life to most. But, to me, it’s a tiny glimpse of who I am.

This is a week of catch-up work in my workshop and housework every other waking moment. We are eagerly anticipating the visit of our dear friends Larry and Denise from Milwaukee, and today I tackled the cleaning of my guest bath. I won the battle, and The Privy of Dragons is once again safe and sparkling clean.

My photo today is representative of one of the highlights for me of our opening weekend at Scarborough Renaissance Festival. I was fully staffed enough, to be able to step to the front of the shoppe for the parade. I took up my usual spot—standing on my bench under the tree—and had the camera ready. I had outfitted three performing company members in entirely new ensembles, and I wanted pictures!

As it turned out, neither Dan nor Glenda walked in the parade that day, but undaunted, I was prepared to snap photos of the queen. I knew she couldn’t avoid the parade. Then, as she got close, and I readied the camera, she stopped walking. “Perfect,” I thought as I framed the perfect photo. But, then, she came toward me. And she was calling for me. At first I thought there must be some problem with her gown … then, I realized she was holding a lovely bouquet of flowers and urging me to hurry down from the bench and take them from her! I did so, of course, bowing appropriately as she handed me the flowers and a parchment note, folded and sealed with wax and a purple ribbon. She hugged me, and went on down the lane to catch up with her King.

I stood by the side of the road, flowers and note in hand, smiling after her. Crazy, wonderful girl. The note, which brought tears to my eyes, is probably the most beautiful thank you note I have ever received. I shared it with many folks, starting with Kyle, and then placed it in the showcase in the shoppe, right next to a photo of the queen in her last new dress. That’s when I realized the photo I had set out to take had never actually happened. I had to laugh … I didn’t get any of the three photos I needed! Hopefully somebody else out there … Frank or Clay or Kim or Dana or Paul or Lys or somebody … will take those three photos for me!

In the meantime, I have a beautiful bouquet of little pink flowers and this one glorious pink rose on my dining room table—a gift from the queen.

He’s not sick—this was a “wellness” visit—he was overdue for an annual physical.

Since our dear Dr. George isn’t in our pocket all year long, living in Wisconsin,and all, we have a local doctor we call our own, as well. Dr. Brad Wasson greeted us today with familiarity and ran Kyle through a battery of tests, including ones for which I was invited to leave the room! But, that’s all done, now, and all that remains is a couple of follow-ups for special things. I’m proud of him for following throughl

He had to go off to work after his appointment, as did I! And, for dinner tonight …guess where … third night in a row! LOL

I took this photo, specially requesting a smile. as we waited for the doctor to join us.

Business as usual today. Monday. Mondays for faire folk are actually a whole lot more like most people’s Friday or Saturday. We’re tired, our brains are kind of fried and we need to “reset.” Yet, we have stuff to do that we don’t enjoy: instead of lawn-mowing and yardwork, it’s things like inventory and sales reports, and we’ve just worked our butts off for two 12-hour days plus however many hours of set-up we required before the weekend. So, my morning was full of paperwork for Pendragon and East Wind Games and household chores like laundry. It being the first Monday of the new faire season, I am still getting myself up to speed on what all has to be done and in what order. And, I’m still really worn out. But, when all was said and done, and Kyle got home from work, we treated ourselves to a fairly quiet, relaxing dinner at No Frills. Yes … that’s two nights in a row. But, who’s counting?

11 April 2010
I absolutely detest this photo. It’s blurry and in no way shows off the magnificence that is the dress our Queen wears. I do, however, get to look at that dress and say proudly, “My Wife made that!”
Well done, Marita Beth. Well done, indeed.

Cheers.
~KR (Written on 19 April 2010)

Listening to:Walking With a Ghost by Tegan and Sara
from So Jealous (Japanese Release)